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Rice was asked to leave the team after a video surfaced showing him abusing his own players physically and verbally with homophobic slurs.

“I’ve let so many people down,” he told reporters outside his home in Little Silver, N.J.

Rice said that when he saw the footage three months ago he thought he could work on changing and added he thought he “accomplished a lot of that.”

But “there’s no excuse for it. I was wrong.”

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Looking on the verge of tears, Rice said his family was huddled inside the home trying to come to terms with the fact “their father was an embarrassment to them. There’s no explanation for what’s on those films.”

The video that documented the abuse was released by the ESPN show Outside the Lines and it immediately sent shock waves across the United States.

The video shows a couple of minutes of Rice swearing at players during practice and abusing his players physically by shoving them and throwing basketballs at them.

The abuse documented in the video goes back three years. The video blocks out the swearing, but it’s easy to tell that along with F-bombs, Rice was also hurling epithets of a sexual nature.

Watching this video will no doubt remind people of Bobby Knight, the fiery Indiana basketball coach who was fired in 2000 after video surfaced showing him choking a player during practice.

Rice was suspended in December for three games when the school learned about some of his abusive behaviour.

The firing was announced Wednesday morning after the video went viral.

The video was pieced together from a number of basketball practices going back a few years. Rutgers athletic director Tim Pernetti said 60 per cent of the incidents happened in the first season.

ESPN obtained the video from former director of player development Eric Murdock.

Rice, who helped Robert Morris to two NCAA tournament appearances, was a hot coaching prospect when he was hired in 2010 by the Newark, N.J., school.

University president Robert Barchi called Rice’s abusive language and actions “deeply offensive” and said they violate the university’s core values.

He said he was notified last fall about the video excerpts by Pernetti. The university then hired an independent investigator, the president said.

Based on the findings, he and Pernetti suspended Rice, fined him $75,000 and ordered him to undergo anger management counselling.

Rice was also put on notice that his behaviour would be “closely monitored,” Barchi explained in a statement.

Rice was told there would be a zero-tolerance policy for additional infractions.

“Yesterday, I personally reviewed the video evidence, which shows a chronic and pervasive pattern of disturbing behaviour,” the university president said.

“I have now reached the conclusion that Coach Rice cannot continue to serve effectively in a position that demands the highest levels of leadership, responsibility and public accountability. He cannot continue to coach at Rutgers University. Therefore, Tim Pernetti and I have jointly decided to terminate Mike Rice’s employment at Rutgers.”

Pernetti told Associated Press that he was responsible for the decision to attempt a rehabilitation of Rice rather than fire him.

“I thought it was in the best interest of everyone to rehabilitate, but I was wrong. Moving forward, I will work to regain the trust of the Rutgers community.”

The school will begin a national search for a new coach.

The Rutgers Scarlet Knights had a losing season, posting a 15-16 regular-season record, and haven’t qualified for the NCAA tournament since 1991.

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